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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Jenny's Top 3 Anime

by Jenny

Everyone has their own preferences in anime. We all love our cheesy comedies, scary mysteries, and pervy ecchis. Gaby-chan was able to show all of her top three anime and now it is my turn. I am always intrigued to watch magical girls anime. But I've noticed that anime that leave a deep meaning tend to stay in my heart the longest. At least if I interpret something within the anime that is deep.

Presenting my top 3:

1. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the manga story line more accurately than its older counterpart. The alchemist brothers Edward and Alphonse are raised by only their mother after their father leaves them. During this time they developed a skill and interest in learning alchemy. When an illness causes their mother's death, the Elric brothers were cared for by Pinako and her granddaughter Winry. The brothers eventually travel with a woman Izumi Curtis to further develop their skills in alchemy. When they arrived back home they performed the taboo attempt of bringing someone to life, in this case their mother who had passed away. As a result, Edward loses his left leg; and in the successful attempt to bring back his brother's soul, he loses his right arm as well. Now Edward has automail prosthetics and Alphone's soul is trapped in a suit of armor. Ed and Al are now in search of the sorcerer's stone. To get more information, Ed became a dog of the military by becoming a State Alchemist. However, as they dive further into their quest, they find a government conspiracy involving the true nature of the stone and the homunculi that ensure that the truth is kept secret.

As I grew up I was able to watch the first season of the first Full Metal Alchemist from 2003. The manga series was available at my library and I assumed the anime would take that same path in the story line. When it did not, there was a bit of a shock. After considering the pros and cons of anime being a direct follow up of their previous material, I figured it was for the best. When this new series came out, I was eager to compare it to the manga. And the story line was just as amazing as the first anime if not better. There was definitely more focus on the corruption and war that took place in the manga. I feel that the stronger themes were hidden in this part of the series. As a result, Brotherhood became my favorite of the two versions.

2. Blood Blockade Battlefront

The series is a supernatural action anime that centers around Hellsalem's Lot, previously known as New York City. As humans and monsters interact with each other in this mysterious place, it us up to Libra to make sure that everything is in check.

This series is still a bit new so I will avoid mentioning spoilers. I love how they use Leo as the main character in the series. He is the most normal out of all the Libra members which makes him the strangest being of them all. There is also a lack of a main protagonist so you can root for all of your favorite heroes. As fans watch the series they can see some backstory behind each character. My personal favorites are Klaus and Zapp. There is a lot to look forward to if you are a fan of Trigun, since the creator of this series also wrote about the famous outlaw. I personally am one of those fans and it was so much fun finding the Easter eggs throughout the series.

3. Black Butler

This anime is my personal guilty pleasure. The story revolves around Ciel Phantomhive, the owner of the Funtom company and head of the Phantomhive family name. Due to unknown circumstances, Ciel's parents were killed and he was kidnapped and tortured by a mysterious group. The demon known as Sebastian Michaelis offers to form a contract with Ciel and now serves him as his butler. Sebastian assists in Ciel's duties as a guard dog for queen Elizabeth and deals with unwanted criminals. Along with this, Sebastian will help Ciel find vengeance for the murder of his family. In exchange, Sebastian will be allowed to eat Ciel's soul and complete their contract.

Alright let's talk about the ending of season one. Ciel and Sebastian finally get all the answers they needed and have eventually found all of those involved with the organization. Angela/Ash tries to "cleanse" the world by bringing about Doomsday. Ciel orders Sebastian to kill the angel; he succeeds when he changes into his demon form and gains the upper hand with some outside help. After everything is resolved, Sebastian takes the weakened Ciel to secluded ruins down a river. Now that Sebastian completed his side of the contract Ciel would complete his by allowing his soul to be consumed by the demon. In my opinion the series should have followed the more Shakespearean ending. The possibility was even explored in an OVA episode. After Ciel's wish for revenge has been granted, he would ironically be at peace with his inner demons and be devoured by one as well. But then season two came along and ruined that possible ending. Oh well, Sebastian still is and will always be one hell of a butler.

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